Irresistible Me
by Kaisu
Summary: A KO/OC romance and the much-requested and anticipated sequal of 'Working for the Enemy! Stress is starting to take a toll on Knock Out's body and wits. He is at the forefront of Megatron's plans to convert Earth to the new Cyberton. Trying to convince himself that he needs an assistant, brings him to choosing between a perfect medical candidate, and the exact opposite. Rated M
1. Chapter 1

**The much-requested and anticipated continuation of my story Working for the Enemy!**

**This is a continuation of my story "Working for the Enemy". I felt so bad for Knock Out, he grew on me, that I just had to write him a romance! ;) (cuz that's whut ai do!)  
**

**So this is very Knock Out-centric, does not follow ANY proper Prime storyline at this point now and may be kind of confusing if you haven't read Working for the Enemy, so I've tried to explain a lot of things so that if you didn't read it...you may not have to. (hopeful) **

**First chapter may be a bit boring since it's introducing this new scenario, so, apologies:)**

**Oh yeah, I decided to bring Starscream back from his assumed death in this story too, so for Screamer fans, this one's for you ;D  
**

**xoxo ~K ;)**

* * *

Ch 1

Knock Out, medic for the warship of the Decepticons, the Nemesis, placed his tools side-by-side on his wall, hanging them carefully on the hooks that hung out from the panels. He organized them from large to small, and made sure each one of the was perfectly straight up and down.

He nudged the last one in place. Perfect. He raised his head valiantly at his work. Placing his hands on his hips, he nodded to the wall and then turned to organize his desk. Normally, he didn't have time to work on tidying up his room, but only for this moment, there was a lull in each of his experiments, and no one on the operating table. Something that he hadn't experienced in a long time, and never recently. Between his own work, and work he was doing for Megatron, he had kept himself more than busy for a few months, almost too busy.

Previously, there hadn't been a lot to do since Megatron and Optimus Prime had come to an agreement on earth to work together. Since the humans had made it clear that they didn't want any Cybertronian on earth by betraying the Autobots, Optimus disassociated himself from the humans entirely, and sought peaceful refuge on the hills of Mongolia, while the Decepticons rolled forward with their plans to conquer the earth and make it their new Cybertron. But lately, the Decepticons had an entirely new agenda, and Knock Out was among the top contributors to the cause.

Without the Autobots in the way, Megatron was free to do what he wished to any continent, and all Optimus had to do was stay out of the way, which he was glad to help him with. The Cybertronians had no business being on Earth, but they also had no choice but to be there with nowhere to go, and no means of going anywhere.

Knock Out was antsy to try out more experimental bodies. Since his last experiment was a success, Kirsten, he now had the blueprints to make more of the 'living metal' bodies that would soon come to inhabit the Nemesis, and soon, the entire world, in their likeness. Kirsten was a special one, and the first success out of the first four. She had been trained and educated in Cybertronian ways since her very first visit on the Nemesis, when she was first a human, and now she lived it as a hybrid. Not purebred, but a human's brain and soul, inhabiting a faux-Cybertronian body created to copy each facet of her likeness.

The living metal that Knock Out had been experimenting with was from the very mountain that the Star Sabre had been embedded in, creating a chemical and ionic reaction with the minerals in the rock, and embellishing the ore drawn from the metals in the minerals. The ore, when combined with proper crystalization properties and circuitry information, would take on a characteristic similar to the human's skin. It was able to fix itself and reshape itself to a certain form without losing the important characteristics of a Cybertron's body. He had three in creation so far.

The pain sensors weren't close to the surface of the metal 'skin', the armor adhered normally, and the copy of the larger body usually took shape to the human prototype almost flawlessly, less the ability to grow a nose and toes, which Knock Out only recently perfected. There were always more things to correct and manipulate, it was like art, tweaking until the very perfect item was achieved.

When Kirsten was created, the copy was so much like the original that almost too many manipulations had to be done. She was far from perfect, but with time, he was able to correct the things that the Cybertronian body didn't need that the human body utilized. He removed the metal toes, fingernails, and ears that had grown, though he could honestly use the ear canal transfer, just the exterior portion was useless. Also, the point was to get them looking like Cybertronians as much as possible.

Who knew when the next Cybertronian being would land on earth, who knew when they were able to return, or to fly without worrying about resources...so the Decepticons had taken the steps necessary to ensure their survival on their new home, and increase their numbers in the meantime.

A knock was heard at the door to his office. Knock Out turned around and found Kirsten peeking in.

"Can I come in?" She asked.

"What if I say no?" Knock Out scoffed, mocking one of their first encounters when she was a human. She had responded in much the same manner when he would invite himself in to her 'office' on the Decepticon ship, in Soundwave's room, but they eventually warmed up to each other.

"Tense?" she responded, as she didn't believe him serious about his demeanor at the moment.

"Actually, yes." he said and rubbed his rough hands against his smooth face, "The properties of the ore we harvested for the next body are taking on different characteristics from yours," he responded in a gruff voice, "I, yet again, have to change up the layout of the transformation crystallization."

Knock Out usually wasn't this whiny, but tensions on the ship over deadlines that were fast approaching were stressing him out. "So, what do you want?" Knock Out asked with a more peaceful voice, he didn't mean to be so callous at first, she would understand.

"Megatron wanted me to go over the list of candidates with you." Kirsten said and invited herself into the room to sit down. She tried to speak to him in a calming manner, as she knew Knock Out's personality very well, and if she wanted him to cooperate, easing him into the task was the best way. "So I've already made a list, complete with gender, height, weight, bmi, percentage of potential loyalty, and career."

"Why does career make any difference? Shouldn't Megatron handle that part?"

"You can probably focus just on the body type now, and we'll narrow it down." Kirsten pushed the datapad his way with a small, secret, smirk.

It had been almost a year since the ordeal in Costa Rica had happened, when the humans had betrayed the Autobots, and all Cybertronians alike. They had found a way to send multiple electrical currents through the humid air, and then charge it, causing the Cybertronian's energon to boil inside of their body, thus, trying to kill them all. Luckily, Kirsten's energon DNA was different, and she rallied with Optimus to make it to the hut where they were sending the electrical charge from, and blow it up.

The situation had ignited an urge to track all electrical surges on Earth, since changing their energon DNA was impossible, though Knock Out still tried to find a solution whenever he would think about it, or have the time to research it with Soundwave's help. Soundwave had been injured badly from the charge that made his energon boil, and he had hemorrhaged. With Kirsten's and Knock Out's help, though, he pulled through, but only from the brink of death. So Soundwave was intent to help Knock Out with his research, as he had a personal and vested interest in the matter.

Knock Out paced with the datapad, but eventually sat down the more he got his mind off of his duties. He scrolled through the list, there were about 20 humans on that list, the ones that Kirsten had noted being worthy of becoming a Decepticon and inhabiting the new bodies. Since she was the first successful human transfer, she had rights, and she had demands too. And it didn't hurt that she was also romantically involved with Soundwave, which gave her another big tier of power. She was the Ambassador to Earth, a fancy title for, 'finding the best way to not piss off the humans'.

Among that job, she also found ways to work together with the humans, since she knew the most about them, having been one in the past. But now, after a year of being a Decepticon hybrid, she was given the duty of finding loyal followers that would be a good addition to their army. It was hard, she couldn't trust anyone because either the humans loathed the aliens, or they wanted to be among them. But she couldn't trust any of them that wanted to actually be a Decepticon...they had no interest in the community, or the lifestyle. They just wanted power, like everyone did.

Knock Out checked off the humans that were of an appropriate size to get the most favorable results out of the mold. He frowned when his optics read one certain name on the list, and his fingers twitched.

"Luci Silverhorse?" Knock Out said, trying not to make a big deal out of the name.

Kirsten shot a grin at him."Does that name sound familiar?"

Knock Out stumbled over his words, "Well, yes, but..." He 'tched' and sneered, "She's...she...the...Starscream...and...knew about the mountain!" What came out of his mouth made no sense. He raised his voice with excitement, and embarrassment. Had it really been over a year ago that he last saw her? He remembered the small human female. She had taken a remarkable interest in his research of Starscream's appendage that she had found, and he had enjoyed her short company while he looked it over. She had helped them, yes, expecting nothing in return.

But tensions were too high then to think about her.

Kirsten was still a new addition to the team, and Knock Out had been interested, and then sparkbroken. Kirsten obviously only had one mech in her optics, Soundwave. That's the way it was, and that's the way it always would be. The thought haunted him still. The thought that Soundwave, the silent, ominous mech that he was, could attract a female like that. He must have underestimated him from the very beginning, or, these human species of female were smarter than he had originally thought. Maybe both.

"Psh," Knock Out threw the datapad on the ground, stressed from his lack of recharge and cranky from his stress, "I'll look at it later."

"Fine, but let me know your choices soon, that way I can start talking to them and Soundwave can send out Laserbeak to watch them closer." Kirsten knew not to push Knock Out when he was grumpy, she knew the wrath he could cause if provoked, so she got to her feet and left the room, leaving Knock Out reclined in his chair, staring at the ceiling of his room.

Knock Out heaved a hot vent. He needed help. Ever since Breakdown had died, the stress was sometimes too much to handle. Why could Soundwave have help and then he couldn't! He began to think about the things that he would think about too often. He did too much work on the ship, he needed an accomplice to aid him with his duties. They all pulled too much weight was the problem, and the Autobots wouldn't join their side. They resided peacefully in Mongolia, without interruption, and without a care, neutral. How he would love to have Ratchet's expertise in the field, he had been a medic much longer than Knock Out and could teach him a thing or two.

Knock Out slumped over to the sound of a beeping coming from the room opposite his, he needed to tend to something on one of the bodies. He felt his joints knot up inside of his abdomen as he was getting to his feet, and he almost felt sick. Stress did take a toll on the Cybertronian processor and he felt nearly at the end of his line. But for now, work had to be done.


	2. Chapter 2

**Whee! Thanks for all the comments, favs, follows *blush* :D**

**I hope I don't bore you again with this chapter, I promise it'll get more interesting but you NEEED to know how Knock Out feels! He deserves that from you ;) haha.**

**xoxo ~K**

* * *

Ch 2

Kirsten was walking down the halls having come from Knock Out's room. She had noticed that he hadn't touched up his paint in a while. Usually his vanity came first before anything. He had been crankier than normal lately too, she hoped that it was temporary.

Soundwave greeted her in the gateway room, Soundwave's makeshift office where he could escape sometimes and get some work done without interruption. Unless, of course, it was a pleasing interruption from Kirsten. He nodded to her when she walked in and brought up the list of candidates on his screen, the same list that she had handed to Knock Out.

"He didn't want to look at them right now..." she said, "He's...distraught."

Soundwave tilted his head forward at her, indicating that Knock Out was fine, he had been doing what he was doing for centuries and that there was no need for concern. He pointed at the screen then, asking her which one of these were her picks.

"David Hunter is a good candidate, but he's really tall, I don't know if Knock Out would choose him just because of his body type." Soundwave responded to her references by erasing his name. If she was in doubt, then he wasn't a good candidate. "True," she responded. She'd gotten used to Soundwave's non-hesitant actions and practicality. They went through the list one more time, weeding out those who she had doubts in, or those who had an unstable history of careers. They were left with ten. Soundwave was very efficient at what he did. He sent the revised list to Knock Out's room, and then they waited.

* * *

A few days had passed and Knock Out hadn't still hadn't sent back his list to Soundwave or Megatron. Something more exciting had happened.

There was a chance that Starscream might be alive, which was different than they previously thought. They had found his arm over a year ago next to the mountain that they were mining from, and assumed him dead because of the levels of charge and radioactivity being emitted from the mountain after tests came back on his appendage, until that theory was disproved that radioactivity didn't affect them because of their metal armor and 'skin'. But recently they had struck a cavernous hole which descended miles into the earth and a trace of very old leaked energon lined the hole.

Next to the mountain, Megatron waited, and the drones worked feverishly to find any trace of Starscream. Perhaps if he was alive, being buried in the hole for a less than optimal period of time would be punishment enough for abandoning the Decepticons. Knock Out was standing by, seeing if Soundwave's tracking could pick up any signal. Having enough of a rock barrier removed, he did, and the object of retrieval was now at hand.

Knock Out waited, impatiently, looking at his surroundings, remembering the last time he was actually here, on earth, at this very site. He remembered the small female human, the one with the perfect golden skin and polished dark hair and plump lips. The one who claimed that this mountain was sacred, and also the one who led him to Starscream's found arm. He thought about the datapad that he had kicked underneath his desk, and he thought about her willingness to watch him, to look over his work in wonder as he did his tests in this very spot, a year ago.

Knock Out scanned the horizon of the Arizona desert with his dim optics, but there was no sign of that white Jeep skirting around the dirt. He was almost hopeful, but no, that was stupid to be hopeful. He almost didn't care. He almost wanted to throw down his tools and run away into that horrid sunrise in the east, and he almost couldn't have cared less when Starscream's limp body was hoisted into the air and dropped in front of him, less one arm.

Knock Out was staring west, toward where he knew a small town was just past a few more ridges. He was ready with his medical kit by his side but his hands were loose on the tools.

"Something interesting over there, Knock Out?!" Megatron drew him back from his trance and Knock Out jerked his head towards Starscream's body, and he began his work.

"My apologies, Lord Megatron." Knock Out replied and he jerked his head back to his task, then he grumbled, "If he could survive all this time, then he can survive two more seconds..."

* * *

Another job to do. Damn Starscream. Knock Out grimaced in his face as he worked to re-connect his motor cables and joints. The cavern had been big enough for him to turn off his systems and survive on just his reserves for a finite time period, but he was stiff, and he was low on reserves. They had got to him just in time. Damn Starscream! Knock Out sparked a cable and burnt the end of it. He clenched his fists in frustration and tried to still his trembling, fatigued hands.

He tightened the compression chambers in his face and concentrated, though it was hard. Starscream wasn't offline, but he was in a state of neuro-stasis from body fatigue. Similar to Soundwave's condition when he was injured, but in a less severe state. A mechanism beeped from behind him. Knock Out turned his audio receptors away and ignored it. It seemed to beep louder, demanding attention. No, Starscream was on his table, not now! The beeping became faster.

A container of fluid vibrated from on the countertop by his screen. It was bubbling over. Knock Out cursed and reluctantly left Starscream's side to turn off whatever was overcharging, he didn't even want to think about which experiment that was. Starscream began to leak fluid and it began to pool on the floor as it dripped. Knock Out growled and plopped back down on the stool, lifting his tools to Starscream. The beeping continued.

"Damn, can someone puh-lease get that?!" Knock Out yelled to the room, but the beeping didn't stop. Starscream's optics opened and emitted a hazy red light. Among the beeps and the vibrations, and something from the opposing room called to him with a crash, Knock Out tried to dim his senses. He deduced the source of the crash was from something growing on one of the hybrid bodies that he needed to cut off. Knock Out couldn't take it anymore, he dropped his utensils on the hard ground and grabbed his helm with frustration. He slumped over on his working bench and clenched his optics shut.

"Fuck!" He roared, "Am I the only one here?!" He said as if he expected some kind of answer. But the more he tried to ignore everything, the more it seemed to call to him. Knock Out tried to zone out, but it was impossible. The directions he was pulled were too many, didn't anyone see that? And he had to tend to all of them. He needed to get away, he needed to get out, he needed something, but he didn't know what. He needed release, a break, some peace!

"Knock Out!" Megatron's face appeared on his computer screen, "Please sharpen some of our miners digging tools, they have become dull, I am sending them your way." And he disappeared as fast as he appeared before Knock Out could protest for time. Knock Out lifted his face drearily and stared into nothing in particular. Ah yes, Megatron was always the icing on the cake, damn bastard.

Knock Out couldn't tell Megatron to ease up, he couldn't make himself seem worse off than he was. He remembered only a year ago where he was only waiting for things to happen, wishing things would keep him busy. He may have wished too hard because his thoughts came true, and ten folds stronger.

Knock Out would have to tend to Starscream later, he was at the very least, stable. He pressed a button to stop whatever was beeping from beeping, and he extended his buzzsaw to go cut off whatever had overgrown on the metal body he was creating as drone miners appeared at his door and waited in line for him to sharpen their tools. They would just have to wait for now while his priority was stuck somewhere else. The knots in his chest seemed to become tighter.

* * *

_Later_...

"Knock Out... you look relatively... appalling."

Knock Out frowned at the grey and red mech laying in front of him. Though, it was so like the seeker. Callous, blunt, forward, and cheap. Knock Out said nothing back, knowing that if he gave into his fighting instincts against the mech who triggered them the most, there would be hell to pay, and, too much to clean up afterward.

"Starscream." He faked his sweet-sounding voice and shot him a meaningful smile, "Always good to hear your criticism." Then he grunted and went back to work on Starscream's thermodynamic stabilizer.

Knock Out couldn't deny the dark circles under his optics and the chipped and unretouched paint on his arms and shoulders. So if Starscream wanted to talk, might as well give him something to talk about.

"You've been missing for almost two years, you're lucky you went into reservation mode and survived. I could barely pull you out of stasis." Knock Out said to him, coaxing Starscream to talk about himself instead of him.

"Oh please, I had two more years worth of reserves in my liquid-vapor compression cavity." He said with a toss of his long hand. "But... I assume Megatron will want me to return to the Decepticon ship even after..."

Knock Out listened to Starscream ramble on about himself, and how he turned himself off and how Megatron would probably reprimand him but with him being such a good addition he would return to being by his side, second-in-command. Knock Out nodded sometimes, just to keep him talking, the less he had to respond, the better, and he could focus on his work. But soon, Starscream ran out of things to say for himself and peered around Knock Out's room.

"Your area, looks different. Why did you re-organize?" he prodded, knowing that Knock Out was a meticulous organizer, straining always to keep his work area tidy and straight and putting things back into place. Soundwave would argue though, that he wasn't as careful with other mech's possessions as much as his own.

"Different reasons." Knock Out said blankly back at him. The truth was because of the new bodies he was creating, they required a few different tools. Starscream knew about his experimental prototype before he left, and he saw two of the failed experiments. He wasn't keen on the idea, only for the reason that Megatron wasn't. Knock Out didn't want to tell him any further about the progress of the hybrids and that there was a success walking among them right now. He would find out eventually, but right now wasn't the time.

As Knock Out turned to his wall to reach for another tool, his leg kicked the datapad that he had kicked numerous times around the room, ignoring it each time that he did. Knock Out reached for it and set it up on a table, it was becoming scratched, and well, Soundwave never liked it when he would return things scratched. He hesitated his hand on it before turning back to Starscream's wounds.

* * *

Eventually, Starscream was well enough for release a few days later, and he had an immediate meeting with Megatron, he knew what would happen. Knock Out had given Kirsten strict a strict warning to stay out of Starscream's way for now, until he was more accepting to the hybrid notion.

Knock Out felt fatigued after finishing up Starscream's wounds, had he not recharged for a few days? He couldn't remember taking his energon rations either. He didn't have much of an appetite lately. There was a knock on the frame of his doorway.

"Are you okay, Knock Out?" it was Kirsten, "I was walking past and you..."

"I'm fine!" Knock Out replied. He replied too quickly to imply that he was actually fine. Kirsten knew something was wrong.

Kirsten could notice the dark circles under his dim optics, and he still hadn't re-touched his paint in a long while. She walked in anyways and sat down beside him on another work stool.

"I mean..." Knock Out tried to sit up straight and darted his optics around the room with uncertainty, "I'm fine." He said, forcing himself to sound more relaxed than he actually was.

"You look like you could use a rest." Kirsten said with caution, not wanting to upset him further.

Knock Out slammed his fists on his legs with fury, "I can't rest! I have to take care of the experiments! I have to fix Starscream! I have to grind the tools! I have to update all the compression cables! I have to weld the miner's cables! I have to research the continuum mechanics of this atmosphere! I have to check on the hydrodynamic turbulent flow of DNA in gravity! I have to polish Megatron's stupid cannon! Do this, Knock Out, do that...oh you don't have enough things to do already so let's just unload everything else that needs to be done, oh, and get it done yesterday!" his voice roared and he lowered his head heavily into the palm of his hands, covering his whole face with a thud.

Kirsten rolled back in her stool a little bit, surprised at his sudden outburst. Knock Out was usually so calm, cool, and collected and if he didn't like something he was doing, he wouldn't do it, and he wouldn't think twice about putting things off. Something about him was more diligent than before, and he was actually doing the work he was supposed to be doing. Maybe that was the problem. That he was so wrapped up in his work that he was losing a little bit of himself in the process.

Kirsten placed her small hand on his shoulder. She knew that he was stressed, but she didn't know he was THAT stressed. "Do you want me to bring you anything?" she peeked down, trying to look at his face between his fingers. He shook his head, barely noticeably.

Kirsten was probably the only person that Knock Out would let touch him at a time like this. She seemed to sense his frustration, but didn't try wildly to help him, or fix the problems, because she knew that there was nothing she could do. That's what he needed. Company, someone to care about him, something he lacked that he desperately needed. And not just frivolous companionship, not just a physically induced attraction. The way that he had begun to care about Kirsten made him realize that he was missing something more special. The feeling of needing to be needed. Knock Out uncovered his face and braided his fingers together, resting his chin thoughtfully on his hands.

"Where can I find someone like you, Kirsten?" he softly asked her, his seriousness hidden in the deep channels of his processor.

Kirsten smiled a little and pat his shoulder, "They're out there somewhere." She stood up and stretched her back, "Is Starscream still meeting with Megatron?" she asked, basically wanting to know if she could walk to the bridge to work a little.

Knock Out nodded his head. When he had finally backed off of his attempts to woo her after Soundwave's injury, the feeling of emptiness grew larger in his chest and he hurt, sparkbroken from beginning to care about her and then slammed down hard on his feelings, pulverizing them into small specks of dust. The thought still sat heavy in his spark. Since then, he had been a loyal and uncharacteristically punctual Decepticon. He had kept his mind busy with work and his experiments to cope with the hole in his chest that seemed to grow bigger every day.

Kirsten stopped before leaving and turned to address Knock Out, "I hope you have time to meet with at least one of the humans at some point. I think we all should, to make sure that their personalities are agreeable with ours. The more votes, the better. But... take your time, eh, to an extent." Kirsten left the room, leaving Knock Out to think about her words.

The datapad glimmered in his dim light and his optics focused on the small square, so he picked it up and scrolled through the ten names. Based on their bmi, height, and activity levels, there was really only two of them that he would deem as physically ideal candidates. That didn't leave too many choices. And that didn't mean that the others wouldn't work, it just meant that he wouldn't have to make so many modifications to the hybrid bodies. His name grazed over Luci's several times. She didn't make the height cut. He tapped a finger on the datapad rhythmically and read her name over and over again. She was too tall for her proportions to fit ideally into one of the bodies. Her leg to torso ratio would have to be modified to get optimal results, and the arms would have to be extended. He calculated how long that would take him to do and crunched his face in thought.

He continued down the list, one other name catching his optic, Blair Jones. Only for the reason that his career was a surgeon. 'Hmmm.' Knock Out thought. 'I could use that.' Having his own interests in mind. He'd want to watch Blair work, and it looks like he had ties with the Autobots previously. Well, Kirsten HAD urged them all to try and meet with at least one or two of the humans, seeing if the choices were agreeable with everyone. He shortly hummed as he checked off the names.

He sighed and sent his picks back to Soundwave. He made an exception for the first time, he didn't know why, but Luci's name stayed on the list much against his better judgment. He 'hmph'ed out loud, trying to silence the nagging part of his processor that was telling him that it was a stupid decision, as she had no clear career path.

He would have to make a decision to go to earth to meet this Blair... well, and maybe see if Luci had found more missing Cybertronian body parts. The latter seemed a whole lot more interesting, so he got to his feet and made his way to Soundwave's station, forcing himself to leave his experiments at bay, and to take a vacation.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the long update, it's a longer chapter! Holidays are over and I have no more excuses:) Enjoy!xo~K**

Chapter 3

* * *

Knock Out entered the Nemisis bridge where Soundwave was, and approached the technologically advanced mech.

"Soundwave, the second name on this revised list, Blair, the one who's a surgeon, let me have his location." Knock Out stated, rather than asked.

Soundwave questioned his intentions with a display of tracking devices on his visor.

"Research. You know..." Knock Out lifted a brow plate at him and rolled his optics.

Soundwave's visor indicated that he had better come back with some useful information.

"You got it." Knock Out replied, transformed into vehicle mode, and roared into the light that Soundwave had opened for him.

...

Soundwave dropped him off in the heart of London, and Knock Out quickly had to swerve to miss an oncoming truck. "Bah, cheeky Soundwave." Knock Out said to himself.

The clinic that this surgeon was supposed to be in was also a multicultural housing unit for refugees.

"Okay..." Knock Out said while scouting the area for him, zooming in all of the windows and trying to find any glimpse. The reason that this person, who's name was Blair Jones, was a candidate, was because of his work with the Autobots before they severed ties, but as Kirsten had reported, had shown no signs of involvement with the betrayal. He was interested because this person was a doctor, just like him, and may be an investment in his own interests.

He waited hours, not exactly paying a lot of attention to his duty. He'd follow a street cat wandering up and down the footpath and then watch a window washer. But, he was enjoying relaxing a little bit. He noticed two ladies finally emerge from the building, both wearing white coats and hair pulled back in a tidy ponytail. Hmm, nope, not them, until his receptors perked at one of the ladies saying, "See you tomorrow, Blair!"

Crap, had he gotten the gender mixed up!? He zoomed in on the name tag of one of the ladies. 'Blair Jones'. Damnit! He was almost going to miss her as she hailed a taxi. He backed up fast and then transformed to his humanoid form.

"Blair!" He pronounced loudly.

Blair faltered at the sudden transformation of the red car, but quickly regained her composure. She waved off a taxi that had stopped. She looked around the street with slight embarrassment as those who passed her, began to walk quicker. Most people were afraid to be seen around the Cybertronians. But it didn't bother Blair, she had worked with the Autobots enough to desensitize herself to any stigmas, kind of.

"She told me you'd try to find me somehow." Blair said immediately back to him, as if she was expecting his visit. She removed her glasses and tucked them in her pocket.

Knock Out nodded. Yes it was Kirsten's job to do the initial scouting and she had probably already had a discussion with her about the need for human assistance. Ambiguous, but they all knew. Now, he wanted to see the candidates for himself. She had a cute little petite figure and he looked her up and down, "I hear you just graduated from med school, congratulations." Knock Out began small conversation, ignoring the passerby's gawking at him, "Kirsten should have alerted you about your possible job that we may call upon you?"

"Yes, she did, and I believe I have more than enough experience to contribute."

Knock Out smirked, well she was certainly sure of herself. "Does it bother you that we are Decepticons?" he crossed his arms.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" She frowned and looked annoyed.

Knock Out lifted an amused brow plate at her forwardness. "Whatever." He transformed and opened his passenger door to her. She got in the driver's seat. "Other side, love, I'm not British." Knock Out chuckled and peeled out on the narrow street, making the young surgeon flush with fright.

She directed him to her small townhome and there, he stepped lightly over her fence into her backyard. After giving her time to change and grab some tea, Blair exited her door and sat in her patio furniture, facing Knock Out. She crossed her legs neatly and sipped.

"So, you don't mind being seen with me?" Knock Out asked, "Most humans would look down on you."

"I've worked enough with Optimus Prime and Ratchet and Fowler, to know who's the most honest." she said with pursed and serious lips. "It's not Fowler." She said while she shook her head, "The Autobots have become reclusive since their seemed betrayal and that's when I stopped working with them."

Knock Out spent a few hours going through her qualifications. The humans they were interviewing didn't know they were being recruited to become a hybrid, they only thought that they were going to be working along side them on various cases. That's why most of the candidates had little to no family, no close relationships, and were nomadic.

"So Ratchet, how was he to work with?" Knock Out said with a curl of his lips, assuming that he would be boring as all hell while he thought about it.

"Not bad," Blair sipped her tea, "He was boring sometimes... and a little meticulous." She said with a straight face.

"Well aren't we all?" Knock Out tch'ed and waved an annoyed hand her way, "You're a doctor, you should know!"

"Oh I'm incredibly meticulous about my organization! I couldn't function otherwise!" She said honestly, "I understand it, but, I like it...my way." She finished with a nod of her head. It was a nod that made Knock Out chuckle, she was very similar to him.

"I know what you mean." Knock Out said in response, "My way, always, because I know what I'm doing."

"I know, right? It's like others don't understand why I need things in a certain order, or a particular placement, because as a surgeon, I must be strictly organized, lives depend on it!" Blair talked, relieved someone finally understood her ways. "You know, the reason I act like I have something stuck up my ass, is because I have to!"

Knock Out was nearly in tears, because he couldn't relate enough to the things she was saying. It was like a human version of himself. How perfect. She almost rolled her eyes in the same way. He was amused.

"I have other business to tend to today, but I'd like to discuss more things with you, maybe try you in the field sometime." He told her with a wink of his optic when he stood up in her small yard.

"I certainly don't hope that's an indication of our future relationship." She waved her hand in annoyance, but returned his amused gaze, "But maybe I'm not adverse to trying it."

Knock Out had no idea what she meant, was she coming onto HIM!? He was almost unsure of what to do. But he liked this direction, he needed some fun, alright, he'll play her little game, he decided. "Well I guess I'll call you." He said suggestively and smirked. He stepped over the fence to get on the street and transformed with a newfounded hum in his engine.

He drove away, onto the next location he thought. He linked with Soundwave, "Soundwave, now I need the Star Sabre mining location, please."

* * *

_In the dry desert..._

Knock Out drove out of the light into the bright, dry atmosphere. He transformed and stepped onto the dirty and dusty soil of the Arizona desert, where the 'sacred' and ore-rich mountain was. He began walking around the site, not really looking for anything in particular, but just here for the visit. The excavation had certainly drawn a lot of publicity. There were signs and pickets spread around the site with messages like 'no Cybertron on Earth' and 'Stop the mining' and 'Keep our sacred rock sacred'. Knock Out scoffed. There was nothing sacred about this rock. In fact, they were doing the humans a favor by keeping them away because of its low levels of radioactivity.

First thing was first, he needed to find Luci, to gather information. Mostly to fuel his curiosity, even though she wasn't his first choice candidate, he still had some ties with her.

The first time Knock Out had met Luci, she was trying to find water around the mountain so that the Navajo people would return to it. Now, she was no where to be found. Knock Out smirked, maybe she realized that this rock wasn't all that sacred now. He rolled his optics, sacredness, a stupid belief. Knock Out didn't know where to look for her now, why was he looking at all? He sighed at himself and strolled to the nearest paved road.

He transformed into his vehicle mode and began following the road to wherever it led.

* * *

_Over in a small town..._

In a nearby town, Luci, the tall golden-skinned girl was picking up some groceries at a farmer's market.

"Oh, these look great!" she said, holding up a squash, bargaining with the owner of the booth. The farmer nodded and invited himself into a long talk about organic growing.

Luci's sleek, long brown hair was braided down to her mid-back, small fuzzy stray hairs grazed across her face and over her ears and she wore flat sandals with fringe around her ankles. She paid for two squash and placed them in her bag. The turquoise earrings she wore swung with her strides, glimmering in the sun when they would catch it. She took the groceries back to her Jeep and started the ignition, paying no attention to the red Aston Martin parked behind her.

Knock Out groaned when he read all the bumper stickers on the rear-end of her Jeep. PETA? Coexist? Go green? Greenpeace? What the hell did that all mean? Maybe she really liked green, he thought and pulled out behind her to follow her.

Luci turned on her music and let the wind of the road whip her stray hairs around. She peered in the rear-view mirror and noticed the red car behind her. Nice, she thought, probably some rich, asshole politician. She payed it no mind until it started to turn the same blocks as her. She took a road that she normally didn't take, just to see if it followed her, it did. She started to panic, she was being hunted for sure. She had led a lot of the public protests against the government lately and they weren't happy with it, certainly that's what it was all about.

She pulled into the next police station she came across and parked, but didn't get out. Knock Out didn't know whether or not to pull in, then he started questioning whether this was worth his time. 'Ah, fuck this...' he thought. He decided that it wasn't, and continued to drive. He drove back to the mountain, to actually get some readings this time, as Soundwave would want to question his efficacy on his trip.

Luci took a deep breath and let it out. Maybe she was just paranoid. Though the car reminded her of something vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place her finger on it. She decided to play. Her Jeep roared out of neutral and she punched the clutch with demand. She was going to follow the sporty car this time, making sure that whoever was in it knew that she could be just as intimidating.

The Aston Martin was too fast though, he blew through intersections like it was nothing, and he weaved in and out of traffic with agility.

"Damnit!" Luci cursed out loud and shifted into 5th gear once she got on the highway, but the car was just a speck in the horizon by then. "Yeah take that thing off-road, I'll eat you up..." she mumbled. She kept driving though and didn't turn around, not exactly knowing why. Her adrenaline was rushing and she felt like going on an adventure. It had been a long time since she'd been out this way, not since, well, not since the aliens started mining the rock. Driving into the desert, she let her mind wander to the time when she met them. She'd seen the aliens mining, but they were different than the first two that she had met, that red snobbish one, and the silver girl one.

Luci had seen the reports of what had happened in Costa Rica and she kind of felt bad for them. She felt ashamed of the humans. That's not what the wise Navajo taught. They taught tolerance and respect, and most of all, harmony and balance. The Navajo, Brazilian, and Swedish flags that hung from her rear-view mirror with her dreamcatcher swung in the high-speed wind mimicking the loose wisps of her hair, but she had lost all sight of the red car by now and was driving aimlessly.

* * *

_Back at the mining site..._

Knock Out drove and began to tire, this desert was so boring and useless. He linked a communication with Soundwave, telling him that he would be gathering samples at the mining site.

When Knock Out had transformed at the mountain, he began gathering information from the radioactivity surrounding the rock. He didn't think anything of it when he stumbled over a small rock that he didn't see, and continued his readings.

"Well Luci," Knock Out grumbled to himself, "Your sacred rock is a pile of radioactive junk to you humans." He logged a few notes, "But incredibly helpful to us." He smirked, knowing that the tainted ore that they were mining from the mountain was what they were using to build the hybrid bodies with, at least 50% anyway. He returned to the area where they found Starscream's body, and sighed. It was nice without Starscream for a while; no screeching orders to take, no spiteful comments, and no random things going wrong.

Gradually though, as he thought, he felt a strange sensation overcome him.

He felt himself black out for a second. He stood very still, trying to deduce his sudden syncope episode. He shook off the feeling, weird. He walked around the mountain again, heading back to the highway and logged a few more things. He stepped on the bits of trash scattered around the dry grassy patches of land, no one cared about this mountain, it was obvious. He thought about driving back to the small town, but then refuted the idea. He had already wasted a lot of energy trying to get back here in his vehicle mode.

The strange syncope sensation overcame him again and he swooned and staggered a few steps. Something was wrong, he finally thought, but before he could communicate with Soundwave to open a bridge, his body fell to the earth heavily and created a cloud of dust around his body.

* * *

_On the road..._

Luci approached the part of the highway that was cut off from transport because of the levels of radioactivity being emitted from the mountain. She had lost all sight of the Aston Martin but her eyes caught sight of the mountain off in the distance. She sneered at the mountain, reminding her of all the corruption of her people and everyone else. No one seemed to want to live a pure and honest life anymore, and people like her were small voices to listen to, so no one listened. Wait, what was that red thing? Was that the car she was following?

She pulled over to the side of the road, not venturing any closer than necessary. She reached underneath her seat and found her binoculars and stood up on her seat to get a closer look. It certainly was the same color as the car she was following, but it looked like...

She gasped. Luci quickly took her phone out of her shorts and called the number that she had carved into a small corner of her Jeep. The number that the alien girl had given her a long time ago.

* * *

_Later_...

Knock Out opened his blurry optics. There were voices. Where the hell was he now? He looked up at the blue sky dotted with clouds and felt a throbbing in his arm. Did he faint? How did they find him? He didn't let anyone know. He tried to speak.

"Whhhrr.." he grumbled. His optics focused on Starscream standing over him, and Kirsten standing behind him. They must have introduced themselves finally, and with the way Starscream looked, he was rather grumpy. Kirsten stepped forward from behind Starscream and looked down on Knock Out.

"Thanks, Starscream," she said, and looked inquisitively into Knock Out's optics. Was he waking up finally?

"No one ever thinks that I can administer medical agents! But believe me, I've lived on my own for a long time, and I had to inject myself with...eh...fluids from time to time." Starscream said, knowing that a few days he had starved and had to shoot himself up with emergency energon, which was what he was doing now.

"How..." Knock Out tried to say as a little of his strength began to return. "I didn't contact you..." he said weakly, "Did I?" he wondered if his transmission did send before he fell unconscious.

"No." Kirsten and Starscream said simultaneously.

"Then why are you here?" Knock Out was confused. How did they know to come to his aid and administer emergency energon?

Kirsten, as she looked down over Knock Out, glanced north, to the highway. Knock Out followed where her eyes looked and his head fell in that direction. There, he saw the white Jeep, about a mile away, and the tanned legs of the tall Navajo girl thrown over her dashboard, engrossed in a book.

'Oh, fuck...' Knock Out thought. Why was it when he was trying to make a good impression, he had to fail at the most inopportune times? Had she seen him fall unconscious? How humiliating.

Luci looked up from her book and tried to peer their direction. Though she couldn't see much of anything over a mile away, it didn't look like he had moved from where she was sitting, but then she saw a glimmer of his paint shine.

Knock Out summoned his energy and tried to get up, staggering to his feet. "I'm fine." he said while he frowned and brushed the stray dust off of his not-as-perfect paint job. He stuck his face high into the air and looked too proud for anything else, "Open a bridge." he commanded.

Kirsten communicated to Soundwave that Knock Out was up and ready to go, and he sent a ground bridge to their coordinates. The light appeared, and Knock Out, trying to walk normally, sauntered into the swirling glow.

Kirsten turned to Starscream, "Come're." She said with a flick of her optics. Starscream rolled his eyes, he knew she was going to make him talk to the human. They walked over together to Luci in the white Jeep, and Kirsten knelt down in front of her, Starscream stood tall and crossed his arms behind her.

"Luci...thanks." Kirsten said to her, picking her words so that she could test Luci's independence and chivalry unnoticed, "What can we do to repay you?"

"Oh, I don't need anything." Luci shook her head and then stood up in the seat of her Jeep to try and equal their height, which was still far from equal, "I carved here, you see, the number you gave me that one time, a long time ago. I haven't had any trouble from the government...yet anyway." She proudly smiled as she showed Kirsten the discreet place in the paint where she had some numbers.

Kirsten looked over her Jeep. She was aware of the bumper stickers, the dream catcher swaying from her rear-view mirror, the hemp seat covers, the leather bracelets that covered her wrist and the turquoise necklace and earrings she wore. But she also noticed the three flags hanging just below the dreamcatcher. She recognized only two of the three. One was the Navajo nation flag, she only knew that from her recent interaction with them, and the other was the Brazilian flag. Was she not completely Native American?

She had nomadic characteristics, and maybe this was why. She was part of many different nations. Kirsten pointed to the one flag that she didn't recognize, "Which one is this?"

"Sweden, my mom immigrated here to live a simpler life, then met my dad, who is half Navajo and half Brazilian." That would explain her green eyes amongst her golden complexion. And it definitely explained her height.

"You relate to the Navajo more than anything though, it seems like." Kirsten said, hearing Starscream's annoyed huffs from beside her.

"I grew up here, it's because I do." she responded proudly. She was a child of the Earth, an activist, and very proud of her land, "The government doesn't seem to like that I like being involved in the Earth's matters, but, I think it's for the best, ya know?" she cocked her head to the side, her braid falling to the front of her shoulders, "Multi-cultural people seem to have the worse luck with the government, especially this one..." she sneered, "But they haven't caught me yet!" She beemed a smile.

"Yet?" Starscream suddenly butted in. He chuckled deeply, "Why would the government go after a small thing like you?" The words dripped out of his mouth with distaste.

"They seem to not like it when I try to protect animal and human rights...camping out on the steps of the capitol, throwing garbage into mansion chimneys, spying, peaceful rioting... you know...stuff like that..." she mumbled the last part and put an arm behind her head, testing the strength of her braid, innocently.

Kirsten had to give it to her, she always wished she could be an activist like that but never had the guts to.

"Is the red guy going to be okay?" Luci asked.

"Oh he's fine." Starscream said with a toss of his hand, "A little too much acting if you ask me."

"He's fine." Kirsten reassured Luci, "his name is Knock Out. Starscream, Luci is the one who led us to your arm, thus leading us to find you."

Luci's eyes widened, "That was yours!?" she gasped.

Starscream returned her surprised look, "You? Psh, the thought." He groaned.

"He'd pretty rude." Luci said to Kirsten with a nod of her head towards Starscream. "The old Navajo teach that success comes to those who are humble and accepting."

"Blah blah blah..." Starscream interrupted and began to walk away, flinging his arms up in defense.

"Sorry, we're teaching him acceptance as we speak." Kirsten smirked and shook her head, "They're kind of all jerks..." she said meaning all of the Decepticons.

Luci snickered, "Yeah, I remember...Knock Out, he was too."

"But don't hold it against him..." Kirsten said, "He can be nice." She shrugged, "Eventually...".It had taken Knock Out a long time to warm up to her, when she was once a human. He had an attitude, one of confidance and bluntness which she understood eventually after hearing about how his mannerisms were just a front to block his mind off from the effects of war.

"So..." Kirsten stuttered.

"You're such a rambling babbler!" Starscream yes again interrupted, "You take forever to get to the point!" he said as he walked back to the Jeep's side.

"Sooo," Starscream melodiously continued for her, "We're taking over Earth."

"You're invading?" Luci asked, confused. "Haven't you already done that?"

"Well, psh, yeah!" Starscream said and almost stomped his foot, "But we're...taking it!..." Starscream leaned over to tell her while indicating with his arms, of taking something.

Luci looked into his red optics, "Okay?" She wasn't quite sure where he was going. "I can't stop you?" Luci stated, "But...do you want me to try or something?" She held up her hands in question, "I—I don't know what you want me to say."

"You should join us!" Starscream prodded, "Wait, no, not like we want you, but you'll HAVE to!"

"Alright, cool." Luci said and then shook her head, "I'm still really confused."

"I think what he's trying to say is that, because of your anti-government agenda, you can help us with taking over your planet." Kirsten stated. Starscream rolled his optics.

"But I like the planet, you're not going to change it are you?" Luci frowned, "There's so many sacred places on Earth, you can't just, destroy them... and the animals!"

"We will have to change it to an extent." Kirsten said, "But we're not going to destroy the place, no!" Kirsten smiled, "I like the animals too! We sunk a whaling ship once!"

"Groovy." Luci said and nodded her head, but then placed her hands on the top of her windshield as she stood over it, "But I like the idea of greedy governments and politicians getting what they deserve just as much as I like saving the world. The ancient Navajo people believe in harmony, and...if this is the way that the world must make peace with it's new kind, then to balance the energy, I believe that I must accept the new way of life."

"So think of it as a way of saving the planet." Kirsten chided.

"You're giving in too fast!" Starscream replied bluntly at her. "You believe in strange things..."

"So do you, you believe you can just transform this world because you want to? Nature will fight back."

"Luci, we're going to give you a job." Kirsten said, Luci nodded and listened, "We've picked only a handful of humans that we can trust, I named you one among them, please prove me right."

Luci crunched her face in deep thought, why her?

"I have researched the Navajo tribes and I think that fate has brought us together, just like your people believe. The earth is changing already. You believe in four sacred mountains, correct?"

Luci nodded her head.

"Those mountains, including this one," Kirsten indicated to the one that they were mining, "...are sacred because they emit an energy. That energy comes from us. From Cybertron relics embedded in the rock. We are the Earth's fate, from the very beginning."

Luci listened with importance. The Navajo DID believe in certain energies emitted from the Earth, was it really them? "The Earth's harmony..." Luci whispered.

"Megatron, our leader, is looking for another relic, one that your people may know of, and have."

"I'll help you. I know exactly what you want." Luci said, almost with disgust. "My people's government had stolen the item from the land to keep for themselves, the one that makes the corn grow high."

"Yes!" Kirsten said with excitement, Starcream looked on with interest.

"You know of that device?" he asked. "More commonly known as a metaphysics cell enhancer, we call it the 'Culturer'." Starscream's words rolled out of his throat with intrigue, "You know where it is?"

"You bet I do." Luci was trembling with excitement to help out the aliens. She shook, because she suddenly felt a purpose, and a direction in life. Perhaps all of her Navajo teachings had prepared her for this moment. They hadn't been wrong about the mountain that they were harvesting, they had never led her down a pathway to manipulation, and they hadn't lied to her.

"Follow me, there's a museum in town where they have an underground parking, and then a research center. You can drive in with me and sneak in."

Starscream and Kirsten looked at each other suddenly uneasy. "Do we have to sneak in?" Starscream said.

"Unless you don't?" Luci put on her aviator sunglasses and pursed her lips, "That sounds exciting too."

"I think we should stay as stealthy as possible.." Kirsten thought out loud.

"I am Second in Command, I shall decide whether or not we must stay covert!" Starscream pouted.

Luci and Kirsten stared at him, waiting for him to make a decision. Starscream crossed his arms and looked around at the desert. He'd already made the decision, but he needed to display authority like before, and let these girls know it.

"Okay, it is wise we must remain covert." He finally said, as if he'd made the decision first, "Here is the problem though... there is only one capable driver among us. We are flyers." Starscream looked at Kirsten suddenly, "You ARE a flyer right?!"

"Yes." Kirsten answered, "So you mean Knock-"

"Knock Out will have to do the mission as he is the only vehicular model among us!" Starscream interrupted before she could say what he was thinking, because of course, he needed to be leader among them all, and restore that respect.

Kirsten glanced at Luci, who had her chin heavily resting on her hand from ontop of her topless Jeep's windshield. She smirked. Luci seemed to like adventure, and wasn't afraid to stand up for what she believed in. Very opposite of what she, herself was when she first came into contact with the Cybertronians.

"I supposed we will contact you when Knock Out is at full reserves," Starscream pace, "So we cannot go now."

"That's fine, do you need my number then?" Luci asked.

While Kirsten and Luci exchanged contact information, Starscream kept watch and linked to Soundwave to make sure no one had heard their conversations. One could never be too safe in this country, especially in these areas. As they parted ways, Starscream made mindless banter.

"Ahh, Knock Out always tends to take on his own agenda first. I hope that he actually does something right for once!" he said with malice as well as doubt. Kirsten enjoyed getting to know Starscream, he was stronger than she had been led to believe, and had a clearer direction than anyone. Being Second-in-Command to Megatron definitely said something about his abilities, and also something about his personality. Kirsten smiled to herself, she hoped that Knock Out would be pleased to be working with Luci.


End file.
